Canada had its longest tornado season on record in 2024.
That's according to Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP).
An average tornado season in Canada occurs over six months, from about mid-April through the middle of September.
An EF-1 tornado in Malden Centre was the country's first in 2024.
The NTP said the March 16 tornado tied the record for the earliest ever in Ontario, matching one that hit Clifford, Ontario on the same day in 2016. The last logged tornado was near Fergus on November 10.
“It’s the longest tornado season on record since at least 1980, according to our records,” said NTP Executive Director David Sills. “The length of the 2024 season is yet another invaluable data point that will impact how we investigate – and ultimately understand – severe convective storms in Canada.”
In its annual report, the NTP said it verified a total of 129 tornadoes across the country last year-the second highest documented by a team in a single season.
The current record in Canada is 131 tornadoes in a year, set in 2022.
The province of Ontario was hit particularly hard in 2024.
The NTP said there were 50 events last year in Ontario, and 10 more recorded entirely over water.
The team conducted over 500 severe storm event investigations last year and found there were 12 EF-2 rated tornadoes in Canada last year, double the amount the year before.
“There were twice as many tornadoes rated EF-2 or higher across Canada this year versus last year, but that’s still far less than the 30-plus that were recorded in 2021 and 2022," said Sills.
In May, the NTP confirmed an EF-1 tornado in the Leamington area and Pain Court recorded an EF-0 in June.
The Northern Tornadoes Project was founded in 2017 and is a team of engineers, faculty, staff and students at Western University, aiming to better detect tornado occurrences across the country and improve severe and extreme weather prediction.
In August the team issued a call for better tornado warning and reporting in Canada.